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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

The Things They Say!

Hudson Music: Lance's "Bebop Spoken Here" is one of the heaviest and most influential jazz blogs in the UK.

Rupert Burley (Dynamic Agency): "BSH just goes from strength to strength".

'606' Club: "A toast to Lance Liddle of the terrific jazz blog 'Bebop Spoken Here'"

The Strictly Smokin' Big Band included Be Bop Spoken Here (sic) in their 5 Favourite Jazz Blogs.

Ann Braithwaite (Braithwaite & Katz Communications) You’re the BEST!

Holly Cooper, Mouthpiece Music: "Lance writes pull quotes like no one else!"

Postage

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Tonight's Blue Note: Johnny Griffin Quartet - The Congregation

Johnny Griffin (tenor sax); Sonny Clark (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Kenny Dennis (drums).

It was JC who brought my attention to The Congregation, a Blue Note that had somehow slipped off my radar which is inexcusable as it is deserved of being included in anyone's 'best of' lists. I don't think Griffin made many recordings for the label but the two that I have, this one and Introducing Johnny Griffin  (Wynton Kelly, Curley Russell, Max Roach) are absolute crackers and Griffin more than holds his own compared to the label's big hitting tenor players such as Dexter, Hank, Joe Henderson and co.


Although regarded as a fast man, his prodigious technique didn't eschew feeling. He made every note count and I'm cursing for letting this one gather dust on the shelf for so long.

The title track, as the name implies, is along the lines of The Preacher and grooves along over the same changes. It is said they were looking for a disco hit which it wasn't (thank you God!). Latin Quarter is a so thinly disguised version of Tangerine that to call it a contrefact  would be stating the obvious. It doesn't make it any less of a classic track.

Other great numbers are, It's You or No One; I'm Glad There is You; I Remember You and Mainspring.  

Sonny Clark, naturally, is superb, Chambers equally so - particularly when he lays off the arco solos - Dennis is okay, how could he not be in this company? but I'd have preferred Max Roach from his previous session or Art Blakey with whom Griffin had done some messengering.

Thinking about Johnny Grifffin, who passed away aged 80 in 2008, brought to mind the fantastic JNE concert he played at the, now long gone, Connaught Hall in Newcastle back in 1967. Charlie Carmichael and I were having a pre-concert beer in the nearby Eldon Grill when in comes Johnny Griffin and his pianist Damian Robinson. Charlie, like Lester, leapt in and immediately begun to ask Johnnie about which reeds and mouthpieces he used. Johnny's reply was brief, concise and to the point "What beer do you recommend?"

In many ways, The Congregation is the jewel in the crown of the Blue Note catalogue in the Wolfe/Lyon days - to my eyes it still is.
Lance
PS: JC's particular interest was in the Andy Warhol cover design. Hopefully he'll check out the title track here.

7 comments :

Ron Ainsborough said...

Lance I was also at the fantastic concert in 1967 in the Connaught Hall'.

One anecdotal story I do remember was that at half time we ran down the stairs in the Eldon Grill for a drink thinking we would be ahead of the half time rush.

Not. So!!! The whole of the band including Johnny Griffin had drinks in their hands. Before we arrived.

The concert was another of my I was there on my list. On stage Johnny Griffin use to Lean in the curve of the grand piano if he was not doing one of his fantastic solos. I wonder if the beer was a little to strong for him ,but in no way did it inhibit his wonderful musicianship.
Great nights jazz.

Lance said...

Lucky Thompson once said that he asked Johnny Griffin how come he could play so good when he was stoned. Griffin replied "Because I was stoned when I learned to play"!

Ron Ainsborough said...

Love it, Lance!

JC said...

Thanks, Lance. What a brilliant piece that is by Johnny Griffin. A really muscular but beautiful sound. I don't think I had heard anything of his before.

If all the Blue Note LPs are as good inside as the outside cover, do you happen to have in your extensive archive Stanley Turrentine Rough 'N Tumble with McCoy Tyner and others?

By the way, if some people are old enough to have been at a Johnny Griffin concert in the Connaught Hall in 1967 then in the current circumstances they may well be in an at-risk group (aren't we all?). I assume they had permission from GP, Police, local TimeLord to be time travelling more than 2km from their home.

Lance said...

I have a couple of Stanley Turrentine's - Common Touch & Look Out but not Rough & Tumble. It's probably on YouTube or Spotify.

Roly said...

My favourite live recording is Full House - Johnny Griffin and Wes Montgomery with the Miles rhythm section of Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers & Jimmy Cobb. They all play out of their skins with the rhythm section in lift off mode. Griffin's solos are a masterpiece in solo building but then they are all on scintillating form. The atmosphere in the club is electric. I wonder if it's the best live jazz recording ever made?

Lance said...

Best live recording ever made? I think you are trying to start up another list!

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